Dark Sun Gwyndolin Information

The last born of Lord Gwyn, Gwyndolin, is the leader of the Blade of the Dark Moon covenant and the only remaining deity in Anor Londo. His followers are few, but their tasks are of vital importance. Although born male, due to his magic and association with the moon, he was raised as a daughter. Gwyndolin created the illusion of a sister Gwynevere, who helps his guard over Anor Londo. An unmasking of these deities would be tantamount to blasphemy.

This optional boss is located by the Darkmoon Tombbonfire, in Anor Londo, at the very bottom of the movable spiral staircase, behind a large statue of Lord Gwyn with a corpse lying to the left of the statue.

Note that angering Gwyndolin will be considered as a sin. (NPC Hostility Sin)

If the player attacks Gwynevere, who turns out to be an illusion created by Dark Sun Gwyndolin, the time of day in Anor Londo will change to twilight, and nearly all foes will vanish. When backtracking through the cathedral, two of Gwyndolin's followers will be waiting by the stairs to the Ornstein and Smough location. A girl with full Balder equipment, and one with Iron Knight equipment. They are fairly easy foes, just watch out for the girl's parries. By using Tranquil Walk of Peace they will continuously try to roll, and stagger. It is also fairly easy to hit them both at the same time with area of effect spells or Pyromancies. After leaving the Cathedral, the Fire Keeper of Anor Londo will be waiting by the giant spiral staircase, with ill intent. She wields a Rapier and a Parrying Dagger, and buffs her sword with the Darkmoon Blade miracle. When defeated she will drop a Fire Keeper Soul, but her Bonfire will also extinguish. If avoided she will be hostile, even after the boss is defeated. Descend the spiral staircase, to the Bonfire below, to find the newly opened path to Gwyndolin.

General

Regardless of build, you will want to have a high magic resist shield for this encounter. The Crest Shield is a good option.

The fight takes place in a seemingly endless hallway, with Gwyndolin at the far end. He will fire a variety of powerful magic and ranged attacks, down the hallway as you approach, then teleport farther down the hallway and repeat this practice. Thus, unless one elects to use ranged weapons (as discussed below) the battle typically involves hiding from or evading his various attacks while trying to move down the hallway as quickly as possible to land a few hits on his before he teleports, before doing it all over again until he is finally dead.

Killing Gwyndolin will place a permanent sin upon you, and you can be constantly invaded by Blade of the Dark Moon members (when human and online).

The fire keeper at the first bonfire in Anor Londo will become hostile after you have defeated Gwyndolin. She will drop a Fire Keeper S oul when killed, so it's worth it. Her bonfire will no longer work if she's killed, but you will still be able to warp there with the Lordvessel.

By turning Anor Londo dark, the fire keeper (if left alive) will move to the revolving stairs, leaving you unable to use her bonfire again.

The "endless" hallway where you fight Gwyndolin is actually not endless, just very long. Sprinting unhindered from start to end takes roughly 5 minutes. If you follow him to the far end of the hallway, he will stop warping and instead stands in one spot. He will still turn toward your position, but staying behind will make him unable to hit with any of his attacks.

The first summon to enter Gwyndolin's boss fog following the host will receive their own, different cutscene. It is also possible for the first cutscene to feature a summon instead of the host if the summon attempts to enter the fog at the same time as the host. This in turn can alter the statements and lecture Gwyndolin gives, depending on the covenant and status of the summon. The summon may then receive a second cutscene as well when they try to enter again.

Lore

Known bugs

Sometimes, if you rest at the Darkmoon Tomb (or the bonfire in the Cathedral) and die during the fight, it will warp you back at Anor Londo's bonfire. This bug happens often if you already killed the Anor LondoFirekeeper. If the bug occurs, and you killed the Firekeeper, you have to run all the way to another bonfire and teleport back to the Darkmoon Tomb. Tip: Never kill the Firekeeper of Anor Londo before you've killed Gwyndolin; he will still be there even after you kill him.

Attacks

Giant Blue Orb

This large orb of blue magic is Gwyndolin's most powerful attack, as it is a quick and painful spell. It passes through all obstacles including the pillars on either side of the room, so you cannot hide from it. The best option is to roll straight through it using the Dark Wood Grain Ring, but it is also possible to roll to the side or block it with a high magic resist shield such as the Crest Shield or the Crystal Magic Ring Shield. This attack can pass through Strong Magic Shield as well. You can tell when he is going to use this because it has the longest charge out of all his moves. If you are using more of a tanky character, just keep your shield up and eat the damage. Be prepared to use an Estus or Humanity, if you are ever struck.

Blue Homing Spells

For this attack, Gwyndolin will summon a barrage of smaller blue magic orbs, which home in on their target. For this attack it is best to get behind the pillars on either side, and wait for them to stop. Dodging doesn't work because, well they are homing, and cause a heavy amount of damage. The tell for this one will be when you see a blue light above him. No matter what type of character build you are using just get behind a pillar. With the Dark Wood Grain Ring, it is also possible to roll through most or all of the orbs, which can be a good gamble if you are close to Gwyndolin and think you can land a few hits on him. A high magic resist shield is also helpful here.

Volley of Darts

Gwyndolin will rise up higher and flick his arm to fire a stream of darts or large needles in a straight line at his target. You can either take cover behind a pillar, or zigzag back and forth to avoid the stream of ranged attacks. You can also put up your shield to block some of the darts. This isn't recommended unless you have a pretty good shield.

Other Tips/Misc

It is possible to stagger Gwyndolin with a sufficiently powerful weapon and a properly timed attack, which can grant you additional time for additional attacks, and even disrupt his teleportation attempt. One effective approach is a 2 handed overhead sprint attack with a Greatsword, but other high poise affecting weapons are also viable.

While the Great Magic Barrier works well at defending against Gwyndolin's magic attacks, you're still better off dodging or blocking most of his attacks as you can still be staggered if hit. However, this miracle can provide you with the extra defense you need to become familiar with evading his attacks or absorbing a few to reach his in time to do some damage.

Strategy 1 - Melee

This boss is fairly easy once you master dodging his moves. The only trick here is to zigzag back and forth, from his darts rather than hiding. The simple reason for this is to close the distance between the both of you, quicker. Once you get close, hit him with your most powerful weapon. He will not attack you at this range as he will instead teleport further down the hall - this prompts a short teleportation animation that allows you to attack him for a little longer - and continue with his move-set. Just stick to the strategies above and he will fall with ease.

Equip light armor and boosted stamina recovery, then two-hand your weapon. All the running you're doing can really drain your stamina, becoming ineffective when you reach him due to fatigue. This is why you will want to recover stamina quickly. You want to get to him as quick as you can by pacing yourself, keeping an eye on your stamina, and choosing when to exert it appropriately. You can get a good 3 hits in with the heaviest of weapons, draining a large portion of health (his defenses are pitiful) if done properly. A lighter, lower stamina weapon such as a Falchion or Balder Side Sword can also be very effective if upgraded, as you will be able to get more swings off with your remaining stamina at the end of each chase. Also consider a weapon with a good charge attack such as a Gargoyle Halberd, Great Scythe, or other polearms, as that may be the only attack you are able to land on the run before Gwyndolin teleports again.

Strategy 2 - Archer

For this one you want to hang back a little bit more. Rather than trying to zigzag out of the way of the darts you can just sit behind the pillars. It will be in between attacks when you will want to advance forward; keep a distance of 2 or 3 pillars from wheres he is standing to avoid triggering his teleportation. From here, you should be able to sneak out in between attacks and hit him with a ranged attack of your choice. Make sure to dodge the larger blue spell to avoid heartache.

Any Bow: After he teleports for the first time, stay where you are and shoot 6-7poisoned arrows at him. To hit him from this distance, you can arc arrows by aiming just above him. It may not show damage on hit but he will get poisoned and will start losing HP very slowly (probably 3/sec). It takes approximately 100 arrows to take half of his HP on NG+. It is also possible to use less arrows to poison him. I recommend using wooden arrows to ensure you hit the target, then switch to poisoned ones when you zero in on him. It is also possible to do direct damage using range boosting gear, such as the Hawk Ring + the Black Bow of Pharis + Feather Arrows. The damage will be low, but can be combined with poison buildup to kill Gwyndolin in relative safety.

Dragonslayer Greatbow:When you first enter the fog he will teleport away after just a few steps towards him. After he teleports take a couple steps backwards and he won't attack you. If you use this bow, you can do about 100 damage per shot without aggro-ing him It helps to have the Hawk Ring to increase your range.

Strategy 3 - Mage

Gywndolin is almost impossible to lock-on to as getting close enough to start actually attacking will trigger him to teleport away to safety, and cannot even be locked-on to during this animation.

The solution: get as close as you can and engage Gywndolin at point blank range.

Once you get within a certain distance of him (while he is shooting arrows), he will try to teleport. Since you can't lock on make sure you are at very close range before using spells like Soul Spear. It is possible to kill Gywndolin with 3-4 Soul Spears or another powerful spell as he is extremely weak once you can get close to him. Homing spells such as Homing Soulmass can also work well if you are able to get close enough for the spell to fire before he teleports.

Miracles/Pyromancy: Due to the difficulties in locking on to Gwyndolin, players can have better luck using fast cast AoE spells that they are effective without targeting. Wrath of the Gods can be effective, as are pyromancies such as Combustion and Great Combustion. Fireball type pyromancies are not recommended unless the player has high Dexterity to increase cast speed, and ideally other summoned allies who can serve as alternate targets for Gwyndolin's spells and give the pyromancer time to get off the blast. Other area of effect miracles or pyromancies such as Gravelord Sword Dance or Fire Tempest-esque pyromancies are very difficult to time against Gwyndolin's teleporting, and are not recommended.

Lies. Killing gwenevere doesn't get rid of all enemies in anor londo. The silver knights will still be there, but now you can't lock on until they're in death to sorcerer range. If you're playing as a mage character, don't kill gwenevere.

My interpretation for how Gwyndolin came to be is that he is a replacement for Filianore, Gwyn's youngest daughter. It's strongly suggested that Filianore was actually the first fire keeper, but she was terrified by a premonition she had of the failure of Gwyn's plans and the fading of the First Flame. Gwyn removed her eyes and stuck her in the Ringed City to guard the Dark Soul, and lied that he would return for her one day. To replace her, he sired Gwyndolin with Priscilla, the half-breed bastard abomination, and possibly had assistance from Seath to make a fire keeper out their child, judging by Gwyndolin's association with sorcery, the moon, the Moonlight Butterfly, and the Pisacas, which were evidently once fire keepers themselves, and why Gwyndolin was raised a daughter. It's possible that beneath his helmet, Gwyndolin also lacks eyes, just like the rest of the fire keepers in DS3, so as to prevent him from realizing the inevitable rise of the dark.

From descriptions of the fire keepers' souls, a fire keeper receives the humanity that is offered to the fire for kindling and is gnawed by their attraction to the fire. The more humanity she harnesses, the stronger the fire burns. This is also true for the Chaos Flame and the First Flame, and without a fire keeper, dark humanity would escape into the world again, and the flame would dissipate.

However, when the Age of Dark encroached upon the world, Gwyn relieved Gwyndolin of his duty as the fire keeper, and offered up his own soul to embolden the First Flame. Gwyndolin was relegated to guard the now desolate city of Anor Londo, and charged with convincing a "Chosen Undead" to follow in Gwyn's footsteps and become the fuel for the First Flame, at the cost of their very soul. (The Anor Londo fire keeper mentions that Gwyndolin "made her" a fire keeper, perhaps by giving up his own fire keeper's soul, which he no longer needed.)

If you look at Anor Londo from the side, you'll notice that beyond Gwynevere's chamber is another staircase leading to a solitary tower. This tower is the exact same design as the one where we find Princess Filianore in the Ringed City, indicating that she once had a role in Anor Londo, but was moved to the Ringed City, a sort of imitation of Anor Londo, much later. (The missing statue in Ornstein and Smough's arena could have depicted either the Nameless King or Filianore, both of which were meant to be forgotten for their failures.)

As for what happened to Priscilla, she was once kept imprisoned somewhere within Anor Londo, but when the world became unhinged after Gwyn sacrificed himself, her soul found peace in the Painted World of Ariamis. The Painting Guardians were stationed to prevent anyone's access to the Painted World, and to imprison whatever inhabitants sought to escape. They exist to hide the secret of Gwyn's tryst with Priscilla, perhaps even from Gwyndolin, her own bastard child.

When Gwyndolin falls ill in DS3, he becomes prey for Aldrich, who is assisted by Sulyvahn, a native of the Painted World who discovered the truth about the gods and sought to destroy them. Yorshka is possibly the daughter of Priscilla and some unknown entity, perhaps one of the two painters, Ariamis or Ariandel. It is possible that Gwyndolin truly is the half-brother of Yorshka, and the discovery of such a fact is what prevents Gwyndolin from assisting the Chosen Undead any further, as his ability to serve his father's will is destroyed by his subsequent disgust. He is rendered defenseless, and Aldrich has no trouble gaining access to Anor Londo and consuming Gwyndolin.

Yeah it is confirmed that it is in fact a he. Not just by some item descriptions from the first one but also in a rings description in ds3 where it gets clear that he was in fact raised as a daughter while actually beeing a male.

too late to confirm the boss's gander, the fun art already said what the boss is . even if it was a she there still gonna make "her" a boy. if you don't believe me go on google (with out the safed search ) and put in the boss's and Ta da! no more can be said.

Gwyndolin should be referred to as a "he" in this article, as that is how the game describes him, as seen in the Darkmoon catalyst description:

"Catalyst born from the soul of the Dark Sun Gwyndolin, Darkmoon deity who watches over the abandoned city of the Gods, Anor Londo. Gwyndolin is Gwyn's lastborn and a legitimate god, but he is also a Moon sorcerer, and this wand is boosted by faith, not intelligence"

realy because Priscilla has what looks like robes that are her wings wrapped around her and Gwyndolin at the time was powerful with his magic enough to make an illusion of his sister and a sun so the tentacles just may be an illusion

Every god - except Priscilla who has a tail, but she's half-god half-dragon - has a human appearance. But Gwyndolin has tentacles instead of feet ; he is the only god who has a deformity. If we admit that in DkS3 Gwyndolin IS BEING eaten by Aldrich when we meet him (it would explain the upper part of Gwyndolin's body ), could it be possible that in DkS1 the tentacles are in fact Aldrich, beginning to eat him, before he gets the power and the monstrous shape he has in DkS3 ?Could Aldrich already be in Anor Londo in DkS1 ?

I guess since he was an optional boss in Dark Souls he didn't die canonically, still got an even worse death by Dark Souls 3. Literally fed alive to a mass of muck... Gywndolin must have lost a lot of his power by the time Irithyll had been founded.